The main objective of this journal article post is to study some of the cultural artifacts, or anything created by humans which gives information about the culture of its creators and users. I started reading online and came across an article titled, “Open Reflections on Nonprofit Culture.” This article offers a perspective on culture I am not entirely familiar with. One of the main points of the article describes what culture is when from the perspective of a foreigner in a another country. The writer defines culture in this instance as both the spoken and unspoken rules that guide how people behave. The speaker says that looking at artifacts, behaviors, and values are all key to discovering the meaning behind nonprofit organizations. In this case, artifacts are seen as documents or other things that can be touched. Behaviors are actions that we can see and experience. Finally, values are defined here as attitudes and assumptions that we experience in nonprofit organizations. Another major topic covered in this article is leadership. Leadership is discussed as it is defines the culture and the staff that implements diverse values unique to that specific culture. The article offers a webinar as an artifact that is titled, “How the Sum of Our Attitudes, Customs and Beliefs Define Nonprofits with Debra Holland.” This webinar breaks down how leadership defines a culture and a staff by implementing a culture within their organizations. The webinar is designed to help in three categories. These categories include: understanding the importance of culture in a nonprofit organization, developing strategies and politics to build organization value, and establishing behavior patterns to cultivate organization culture for long-term purpose. Along with the webinar, this article provides two different two part questions to help the reader organize their thoughts when it comes to this particular topic. The first question states, “What is the aesthetic of your organization? What does the appearance of your facilities, staff, or advertisements say about your culture?” I believe that this question is so relevant to the culture we live in today because of all the visual appeal that people look for in a product or service. The other question states, “How is your hospitality represented? How do you literally and metaphorically display your inclusivity to the community?” This question covers the opposite side of culture than the prior question because it is keen on discovering better methods of human interaction. Both of these questions are relevant when continuing the discussion of the nonprofit culture.
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